The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is for you folks who prefer a steno pad to a legal pad. It's the more portable partner to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, and they have much in common, including the S Pen digital pen with Wacom technology, Samsung's TouchWiz UI and custom software for inking and multitasking. While the 10" Note tablet is priced the same as the competing iPad model, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is actually more expensive than the competing iPad mini ($399 vs. $329). Don't get me wrong: it's not that I think the iPad is the apex of value, but rather Apple's pricey tablets have so far set the high mark for how much a company can charge for a tablet.

The Note 8.0 has a 1280 x 800 display, and though some have bemoaned the low resolution, it's a decent resolution for an 8" panel. It doesn't look grainy or fuzzy in the least, and I suspect the resolution is limited by the current constraints of Wacom technology. The S Pen works very well for drawing and note taking with good tracking and smooth lines--it's a joy to use compared to a capacitive stylus and it allows for palm rejection, so you can rest your hand on the screen while writing and drawing. Samsung's custom pen software is on board, just as with the Samsung Galaxy Note II smartphone and Note 10.1 tablet: S Memo, a new Awesome Note app, a handwriting input panel option (you can use this instead of the on-screen keyboard), split window mode so you can take notes while viewing a web page, email or Office document and more.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 is a very fast tablet; in fact it's faster than the larger Galaxy Note 10.1. It runs on a quad core Samsung Exynos 4412 CPU with Mali 400 graphics and 2 gigs of RAM. It's available for $399 with 16 gigs of storage and a 32 gig model will also be available. There's a microSD card slot that's compatible with SDXC cards for storage expansion. The tablet scored an impressive 7054 on Quadrant, 16,214 on the Antutu benchmark and 2133 in Geekbench 2.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and Samsung Galaxy Note II

Since it's a Samsung, it's glossy plastic. Our white tablet looks much like our white Note 2 smartphone, and it's every bit as slippery. It's not a bad looking tablet though, despite the lack of premium design elements like metal.

This is a WiFi-only tablet in the US, and it has dual band WiFi, Blueooth, GPS and a consumer IR remote to control your AV gear.